I've hit another milestone with regard to my two rifle builds and I've been sharing them across the net, so I figure now would be a good time to post them here too.

This is my early 2000s/Invasion of Iraq M4A1 Carbine build. While not "retro" by arfcom standards, it's definitely a dated build. It's a boring ass M4A1 build with a SOCOM barrel, Knights Armament RAS and N1 CAR Stock, with a Matech Rear Sight, a Gen 2 "Fat Body" Surefire M951 with SW02 Tailcap, and an Aimpoint Comp M2/M68 CCO. I think people take this setup for granted, as it is really the genesis of the high tech AR world we know and love today. It's the first generation of contemporary durable electronic optics and lights, which has also seen significant action in the GWOT. Everyone is really into rifles that are pre-red dot, but this is the father of all we know as "tacticool" with a legitimate service record to boot. It helps that videogames meme'd this rifle really hard too. The only part I'm missing for the build is the Side Sling Swivel that mounts under the Front Sight Base. The worst part is that I have the one from the upper, but the rollpins are stuck in really hard and I can't tap them out to install it.

And this is my long awaited SBR build. I got my Form 1 for my first LE6920SOCOM back on February 14th this year, so I basically got married to it on Valentines Day, how cute. It's loosely inspired by the MK18 Mod 1/Block II Build, but I've done some things that are not to that spec. For the general upper, the MK18 RIS II is Black and not FDE, and the barrel is a SOCOM I profile and not a standard Government profile. For rail accessories, it has Troy Folding Battlesights, HK Front and Standard Rear, a Gear Sector QD Swivel Mount to go with the Noveske QD End Plate, Knights Armament Rail Covers, and a Tango Down QD Vertical Foregrip. The electronics are an Aimpoint Comp M4s with the stock QRP2 Mount, and a Surefire X300UB. I'm really liking the light for a carbine, very simple setup and very bright. If my Form 4s ever come back I will also be getting a QD suppressor for it for double stamp cred.

And hey, why don't we just have a good old fashioned post your rifles thread? Lets see what everyone else has in the tacticool department.

Last edited by Yournamehere; 04-26-2017 at 06:07 AM.
Reason: Resized second image.

Looks good though m4 carbine clone could use an inventory number scribbled on the buttstock and a an/peq2. I'll post something of mine once I take some better pics, they'd look terrible next to your studio setup.

Looks good though m4 carbine clone could use an inventory number scribbled on the buttstock and a an/peq2. I'll post something of mine once I take some better pics, they'd look terrible next to your studio setup.

As much as I would like to take a blue pen marker to the N1 stock, which sells for over 100 dollars in good condition, I had to pass. As for a PEQ-2, if I could find one, I would buy it. I should get some more lights for my table too, as the "studio" is too small for rifles, which is why these pictures look a bit dark.

I'll send a photo of mine later on. I'm waiting on a new upper to change it up. right now it's still a S&W M&P Sport, the first gen version at its core. But now I have changed pretty much everything. Magpul SL pistol grip, SL handguard, BCM gunfighter stock, has an Inforce WML, a Holosun red dot. A BCM H Carbine buffer.

I'm planning to build my first AR pistol. Look at at 10.5 to 12.5 in barrel, flat top of course, and thinking about the SB Tactical PDW brace

__________________
"There's a fine line between not listening and not caring...I like to think I walk that line everyday of my life."

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle
Psalm 144:1

As much as I would like to take a blue pen marker to the N1 stock, which sells for over 100 dollars in good condition, I had to pass. As for a PEQ-2, if I could find one, I would buy it. I should get some more lights for my table too, as the "studio" is too small for rifles, which is why these pictures look a bit dark.

Can't wait to see everyone else's stuff.

Oh yeah almost forgot you need to have your sensitive items tethered to the rifle with gutted and burnt 550 cord. I would also suggest moving the entry light to the right side rail so you can move the vertical fore-grip more to the center. With a vertical fore grip that far to the rear you might as well just grip onto the magwell.

Oh yeah almost forgot you need to have your sensitive items tethered to the rifle with gutted and burnt 550 cord. I would also suggest moving the entry light to the right side rail so you can move the vertical fore-grip more to the center. With a vertical fore grip that far to the rear you might as well just grip onto the magwell.

The paracord sounds cool. I've thought about doing that but I haven't found a resource that demonstrates how to tie it properly. As for the light, the thing is so heavy that having it on the right sight of the rifle really messes with the balance. I also like having the vert grip behind it because it makes actuating the light easier, as I can use my index finger knuckle to turn it on and off. I tried magwell against the vert grip too, and believe it or not, the couple inches forward the vert grip gives does make a difference in overall handling, or at least I feel like it does.

I have seen set up like this so it's not completely inaccurate of the period you're trying to emulate. But despite the light potentially messing with the balance, you can just get a smaller light, mount it to the right and add a pressure switch for it. Don't forget excessive tape on it.

__________________
"There's a fine line between not listening and not caring...I like to think I walk that line everyday of my life."

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle
Psalm 144:1

I have seen set up like this so it's not completely inaccurate of the period you're trying to emulate. But despite the light potentially messing with the balance, you can just get a smaller light, mount it to the right and add a pressure switch for it. Don't forget excessive tape on it.

There aren't really any smaller lights from the early stages of Iraq that I could find. Most lights were the Gen 2 M951/M952 or the Gen 2 and 3 M961/M962. I actually have an M962 in a box for another older clone build. That thing is basically the size of a lightsaber hilt, or a D cell Maglite that went on a diet and got skinny. In the later years you'll see Insight pistol lights on quad rails and some of those Surefire M900V vert grip lights but those can get a bit pricey, and their performance is eh, even not considering contemporary light standards.

M951s are cool though in that you can get LED drop ins for them to give them competitive brightness even by today's standards. That one in the pic as a Malkoff M61 which gives the light 325 lumens for 1.5 hours. Granted that's half as efficient as an M300 Scout which does about that with one battery instead of two, but it puts out the lumen count which is nice. I may just put the old P60 lamp back in there just to be true to the times, though.

I don't have a fancy AR to post, but I always wanted an AR6721 (or similar 16" HB carbine) configured like the one on the box art of Ghost Recon: Island Thunder.

__________________"The gun has played a critical role in history. An invention which has been praised and denounced... served hero and villain alike... and carries with it moral responsibility. To understand the gun is to better understand history."

“What is morality in any given time or place? It is what the majority then and there happen to like, and immorality is what they dislike.” - Alfred North Whitehead